1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a therapy station for treatment of a patient with focused acoustic waves, of the type including a source carrier to which a source of focused acoustic waves is attached, an x-ray carrier to which an x-ray locating system is attached, and a support table for a subject to be treated.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Therapy equipment of this type serve the purpose of treating stone pathologies (lithotripsy), treating tumors, or for treating bone conditions (osterorestoration). In the former instance, a shock wave source is usually provided as the source of focused acoustic waves. In the case of tumor treatment, for example, a pressure pulse source that generates negative pressure pulses (under-pressure or rarefaction pulses) and/or an ultrasound source that continuously delivers ultrasound (hyperthermia) can be provided as the source of focused acoustic waves. A shock wave source is likewise normally provided as source of focused acoustic waves for the treatment of bone conditions.
Regardless of the purpose of the treatment, a subject to be treated with such a therapy station is aligned relative to the source of focused acoustic waves, with the assistance of the x-ray locating system, by adjusting the source carrier and the support table relative to one another, so that a region of the subject to be treated is located in the focus of the acoustic waves. The x-ray carrier is usually connected such to the source carrier so that it follows the motion of the latter, so that an effective check can be made at any time after the positioning of the region to be treated in the focus of the acoustic waves, to see whether the previously-made alignment of the subject to be treated relative to the focus is still present.
Quite a considerable structural outlay must be provided in known therapy means for realizing these requirements. In a therapy station disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,354, the source carrier, the x-ray carrier and the support table are attached to a stand column pivotable around an axis either independently or in common, as desired. The patient support table is secured to a boom pivotable around the aforementioned axis and is adjustable relative to the boom in the direction of the axes of a spatial coordinate system. In order to be able to fashion the boom with adequate stability (this boom being loaded not only by the weight of the subject to be treated and of the patient support table but also by the weight of the drives required for its adjustment), a rather substantial structural outlay must be produced, resulting in substantial costs.